THIS WEEKEND The
horror-action combo Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters
led a sluggish North American box office with a moderate debut that was
more than enough to capture the number one spot. Two other new releases,
Jason Statham's action film Parker
and the raunchy comedy Movie 43, failed
to attract much business helping the overall marketplace lose steam. The
top ten was filled with four Academy Award nominees for Best Picture, a
handful of underperforming January releases, and an unusually high total
of eight R-rated films.

Paramount captured the top spot with its Jeremy Renner vehicle Hansel
and Gretel: Witch Hunters which grossed $19.7M this weekend
according to final studio figures.
The R-rated story about the fairy tale siblings as hired guns in their
adult years averaged a decent $5,840 from 3,372 locations with 55% of the
gross coming from 3D screens.

Though not especially impressive, Hansel
attracted respectable business and hopes to see better figures from international
markets. Studio research showed that the crowd was 55% male and 57% 25
and older. The majority of films in the top ten appeal to adult males so
competition was tough. Reviews were mostly negative for the $50M production
which was co-financed with MGM. The opening weekend turnout was about even
with that of last summer's period mash-up pic Abraham
Lincoln: Vampire Hunter which bowed to $16.3M and a similar
$5,247 average with its R rating, 3D surcharges, and nearly identical demographic
breakdown.

Gretel got its overseas run started
a week earlier with its solid showing in Russia last weekend. The effects-driven
fantasy remained number one in that territory for a second weekend and
overall grossed an estimated $25M from 19 markets for an international
cume of $35.8M.

Last week's number one film Mama
fell to second place with $13.1M after dropping 54%, an understandable
decline for a supernatural thriller. Universal's $15M pic has grossed a
solid $48.9M in ten days and should end near the $70M mark. Part of Mama's
success has come from its PG-13 rating as all other films in the top nine
this weekend were rated R.

Best Picture nominee Zero Dark Thirty
ranked third with $9.7M, off 39%. The Sony release has collected a sturdy
$69.8M to date. Enjoying the best hold by far for any wide release was
Oscar contender Silver Linings Playbook
which eased only 12% to $9.4M pushing the cume up to a robust $68.9M. The
Bradley Cooper-Jennifer Lawrence hit is well on its way to smashing the
$100M mark and could go much higher if it remains durable over the weeks
ahead.

Jason Statham's latest effort didn't excite too many moviegoers. The
action star's Parker bowed to $7M from
2,224 theaters for a weak $3,151 average putting it on the lower end of
the actor's standard opening weekend range. Statham continues to head up
action projects - usually with low budgets - but routinely opens films
below the $10M mark when anchoring on his own. Parker
debuted a bit below the $7.9M of Safe
from last year and the $9.4M of Killer Elite
from 2011. Its CinemaScore grade was a decent B+. Overseas results and
home video revenue should help to cover the costs down the road.

The Weinstein Co. saw its other major Oscar contender Django
Unchained fall 36% to $4.9M pushing the cume up to a stellar
$146.2M. A strong $42.9M international weekend put the Quentin Tarantino
pic at $111.5M overseas for a sturdy global gross of $258M.

Giving film critics something to completely tear apart, Relativity saw
almost no turnout for its raunchy comedy Movie
43 which flopped in seventh place with only $4.8M from 2,023
theaters for a weak $2,376 average. The R-rated picture with 12 credited
directors boasted an impressive cast of actors including Oscar winners
Halle Berry and Kate Winslet, current Academy Award nominees Hugh Jackman
and Naomi Watts, plus many other notable stars like Gerard Butler, Emma
Stone, Richard Gere, Dennis Quaid, and Terrence Howard.

Produced by Peter Farrelly and featuring numerous short films strung
together with a main plot, Movie 43
is already generating plenty of heat for next year's awards season - for
the Razzies, that is. The cheap $6M film earned a dismal D grade from moviegoers
polled by CinemaScore. The audience was 51% male and 59% under 25.

Period pic Gangster Squad dropped
51% to $4.3M and has given Warner Bros. $39.7M to date. The blockbuster
musical Les Misérables followed
with $4.2M, down 44%, and a domestic tally of $137.5M. Universal has amassed
$313M worldwide so far. After a weak bow, Broken
City fell 51% in its second weekend to $4M putting Fox at just
$15.3M after ten days.

Overseas, Skyfall finally opened
in China last Monday and generated a stunning $34.4M in the first seven
days thanks to the widest release ever for that country with 8,000+ screens.
The international total stands at $776.5M and will break $800M soon. The
global gross is a towering $1.08 billion and the latest Bond will soon
surpass The Dark Knight Rises for number
seven on the all-time worldwide mega-blockbusters list.

The top ten films grossed $81.2M which was down 11% from last year when
The Grey opened at number one with
$19.7M; and down 7% from 2011 when The Rite debuted
in the top spot with $14.8M.

Get earlier box office updates and analysis by following BoxOfficeGuru.com
on Twitter.

Be sure to check back on Thursday
for a complete summary, including projections, for next weekend when Warm
Bodies, Bullet to the Head,
and Stand Up Guys all open.

#

Title

Jan 25 - 27

Jan 18 - 20

% Chg.

Theaters

Weeks

AVG

Cumulative

Distributor

1

Hansel and
Gretel: Witch Hunters

$ 19,690,956

3,372

1

$ 5,840

$ 19,690,956

Paramount

2

Mama

13,088,145

28,402,310

-53.9

2,682

2

4,880

48,875,585

Universal

3

Zero Dark Thirty

9,700,132

15,797,612

-38.6

2,929

6

3,312

69,803,979

Sony

4

Silver Linings
Playbook

9,444,039

10,752,836

-12.2

2,641

11

3,576

68,908,666

Weinstein
Co.

5

Parker

7,008,222

2,224

1

3,151

7,008,222

FilmDistrict

6

Django Unchained

4,946,932

7,755,800

-36.2

2,007

5

2,465

146,236,758

Weinstein
Co.

7

Movie 43

4,805,878

2,023

1

2,376

4,805,878

Relativity

8

Gangster Squad

4,278,235

8,640,540

-50.5

2,590

3

1,652

39,725,102

Warner
Bros.

9

Les Misérables

4,221,055

7,491,995

-43.7

2,210

5

1,910

137,546,205

Universal

10

Broken City

4,019,558

8,268,908

-51.4

2,622

2

1,533

15,289,547

Fox

11

Lincoln

3,863,689

5,475,263

-29.4

1,909

12

2,024

167,051,523

Disney

12

The Hobbit:
An Unexpected Journey

3,385,361

6,176,941

-45.2

1,675

7

2,021

293,323,831

Warner
Bros.

13

A Haunted House

3,244,017

8,170,023

-60.3

2,002

3

1,620

35,439,998

Open
Road

14

Life of Pi

2,587,148

3,351,625

-22.8

941

10

2,749

103,427,508

Fox

15

Parental Guidance

2,502,684

4,252,418

-41.1

1,736

5

1,442

70,845,497

Fox

16

The Last Stand

2,150,562

6,281,433

-65.8

2,913

2

738

10,684,507

Lionsgate

17

The Impossible

1,935,638

2,476,238

-21.8

782

6

2,475

13,297,393

Summit

18

Argo

1,812,358

2,262,947

-19.9

635

16

2,854

117,568,785

Warner
Bros.

19

Quartet

1,159,032

304,263

280.9

163

3

7,111

1,699,861

Weinstein
Co.

20

Race 2

884,757

153

1

5,783

884,757

UTV

Top
5

$ 58,931,494

$ 71,862,206

-18.0

Top
10

81,203,152

107,738,398

-24.6

Top
20

104,728,398

133,369,305

-21.5

Top
20 vs. 2012

104,728,398

116,915,108

-10.4

This column is updated three times each week:
Thursday
(upcoming weekend's summary), Sunday
(post-weekend analysis with estimates), and Monday
night (actuals). Opinions expressed in this column are those solely of
the author.